Are you consuming your life with STUFF? STUFF you spend your money on that comes in packaging and then you wrap it wastefully in paper and give it away? Do you practice 1 for them, 1 for me? There’s a comedian who has a great rant about why people need houses – to hold STUFF. Peoples homes are cluttered with STUFF. People need to routinely purge STUFF to accomodate more STUFF. At the Holidays, we give & recieve STUFF. Gifts are often confused with rewards, or exchanged out of guilt or pressure. 

In November we practiced Gratitude. Come January we will make Resolutions. In December, let’s ask What makes a Great Gift?

Pause – take a moment and consider what the Holiday Season means for you.  AND take a moment and consider what gift means to you.

Every day as I first wake up and my mind starts to stir, I check in – and I ask myself 1) What do I need today?, and 2) What do I want today?

~ how would you answer these questions? ~

The answers sometime appear to go together, and other days the two are worlds apart from each other. There are times when the answers are quick and on the surface – like, I will need a nap, or I want a great, big breakfast. At other times I support myself by reminding myself how to pick up my energy and steer my emotions back on track. Sometimes I make new goals – personal or professional.

The point of the practice is to make sure I am getting what I want in life. That I am living life for me, and not taking on other energy draining distractions. This is not selfish. It helps me to see where my energy is going, and where it is being spent. I give myself the gift of clarity and purpose every day.

I truly believe that once you get a handle on what you feel as you gift for yourself, you will also begin to see gift giving toward others in a whole new light. As Awareness and Mindfulness practices develop and your intentions are met with kind actions, more Gratitude will abound, and the need for resolutions will hold a completely different value. Even when you buy your niece the overpriced handbag she is currently coveting – it’s ok to still bring joy and pleasure to others – to make Happiness for One and All.

Show your support and give the gift that’s good for life!

Big Holidays like today that revolve around food -for some of you it can be a bit of a stressor. Don’t let it. It doesn’t have to be. Your perceptions about food and your relationship with food is important on days like this. It’s not about watching your weight, wearing your bigger pants, or counting calories, or limiting yourself. Today is a day about Love. It’s a day about Nourishment.

Did you know that when you’re in a good mood and enjoying the experience, your digestion is working to its fullest capacity – ensuring that every morsel and nutrient is assimilated and feeds your health and your body. Stress has the opposite affect – stress has the potential to reduce your digestive capabilities by up to 50% or more. That means that all that good food you are about to enjoy will have no positive affect on your body or your health.
Don’t let people get to you, don’t worry about how your pants fit, and don’t worry about depriving yourself. It’s not cheating – it’s PLEASURE. Enjoy yourself today.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have always been told I am a Strong Woman – a statement I used to just brush off with a feeling like shyness – perhaps because I never fully understood the weight this statement held – until recently. Now, as I share myself and work with others as their coach, I understand this statement. It does hold a lot of weight – You Are Strong. Now when someone offers me this compliment I smile and wear it proudly. I lift my head high and I embrace the entire weight of this statement – You Are Strong. And the feeling of Pride I have is Strong. Because when you work for something and do not allow it to get clouded or to be misrepresented – when it does not just define you but it is part of your fibrous being – the interwoven and overwhelming complexity of Beauty and Uniqueness that is YOU – it holds your heart firmly, bringing Aliveness and Fullness to it. Today, and every day, I am Thankful – for the gift of Strength and for the Power that is ME. I use my Strength for GOOD.

There was a time when other people tried to convince me otherwise. They tried to break me – they harrassed and disrupted me, stressed me, and belittled me, they attempted to oppress me. But the truth always remains the same – and the TRUTH is – I am a Beautiful and Strong Woman. I have the capability to recognize where I do not need to be, and the strenght to leave. I have the capacity to understand that when someone tries to hurt me, it is because they are in pain. I have the comapssion to hold them in my thoughts, and wish them better. I have the strength to not take it personally when they attack me – because their actions against me are not worth anything that belongs to me.

I am Thankful for the Strength I have nurtured, for it grows with every passing day. It is because of my Strength that I am able to nurture others.

What are you Thankful for?